Computer application programs have traditionally been used to create functional and professional looking documents. However, the process to create such quality documents can be time consuming, tedious, and beyond the skill set of some computer users depending on the complexity of the document.
Many computer application programs assist the computer user by supplying pre-existing default documents that the computer user can use as a starting point in an effort to make this creative process more efficient. The computer user is then responsible for any customizing of the document beyond the default style, textual content, textual attributes, layout, and graphical attributes of the pre-existing default document.
To implement this concept, application programs typically use specialized software tools or "wizards", such as those found in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Publisher, and Microsoft Word 6.0, to assist the computer user in making choices of what characteristics of the document are desired. For example, the computer user could choose the type of font to apply to text within a document, or the computer user could choose the style of letterhead to appear at the top of the document in order to customize the document while using the software tool. These specialized software tools also draw a preview display of the pre-existing default document with it's associated characteristics. A preview display attempts to give the computer user an idea of what the document would look like before actually creating or outputting the document to an application program. Such specialized software tools for document creation are well known in the art and is the subject matter of U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,326.
Typically, the specialized software tools or "wizards" have document preview displays that are low resolution. The computer user is forced to imagine what the created customized document will look like in detail. Accordingly, errors may be displayed in the preview display yet are unrecognizable errors to the computer user. For example, lines may be used to symbolize the content of text. A computer user would not be able to recognize textual attribute errors or other layout errors. In other cases the text may be represented by lower resolution or "greeked" text where errors still may not be recognizable by the computer user.
Furthermore, the document in the preview display may have different characteristics than the customized document created by the application program. The computer user may not be guaranteed that all of the customized characteristics of the document that were selected or entered during the construction of the document using the "wizard" will show up in the created customized document. This is because different software code is used to create the preview display and to create the customized document by the application program.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method of simultaneously constructing and displaying a dynamic preview of a document that provides an accurate representation of a customized document using the same drawing process to initially draw the preview display, update the preview display, and to output the customized document to the application program.